You can disable the upgrade functionality of Messenger by adding some registry keys. To
do this, click Start, then click Run, enter regedit.exe and click OK. Go to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MessengerService key, be sure to click
the MessengerService key (looks like a folder). Then, click the edit menu,
point to New, and click Binary. Name the new binary value, Upgrade. Then,
double-click the new Upgrade value and enter 01 00 00 00.

Then go to,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MessengerService\Policies key, be sure to click the
Policies key (looks like a folder). Then, click the edit menu, point to New, and click
DWORD. Name the new DWORD value to DisableUpdates. Then, double-click the new DisableUpdates
value and enter 1 as the value.

Then close the Registry Editor -- you may need to restart
Messenger or reboot for the changes to take effect.

____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com